NYC, Ep. 41

March 6, 2012 — On a historic night in which Literary Death Match returned to its velvet-walled birthplace at The Back Room, endlessly fantastic text warbled through the dim-lit confines until Dean Haspiel (creator of the Eisner Award-winning Billy Dogma) screamed back from a 2-1 deficit to topple Katharine Bakeless Nason Prize-winner Kim Dana Kupperman by a 3-2 score at Literary Pictionary to win the LDM's 6-year anniversary crown. 

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Chicago, Ep. 7 (at AWP)

March 2, 2012 — In what's being called the "Greatest LDM Ever" (presented by Versal and Painted Bride Quarterly) a superstar-laden celebration of our 200th event at Buddy Guy's Legends culminated in a wild finish, which included the first-ever stripping of the LDM medal, before the night ended with Roxane Gay (author of Ayiti) toppling National Book Critics Circle finalist Major Jackson in the Literary Spelling Bee sudden death, to win by the narrowest of margins. 

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Twin Cities, Ep. 6

March 1, 2012 — On a wintry, throat-aggressing evening at Nomad World Pub, gobs upon gobs of literary and charming talent were on display to see Coffee House Press rep Kao Kalia Yang outduel Sarah Stonich (author of Shelter and The Ice Chorus) in a Neil Gaiman Cupcake Celebration that won her the Literary Death Match Twin Cities, Ep. 6 crown. For all the gory details, click for Patrick Nathan's fantastic writeup.

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Kansas City, Ep. 3

February 28, 2012 — On a stormy, tornado-warning night in fountain-filled Kansas City, a talent-packed night at Firefly ended with a dimly-lit Literary Pictionary face-off that saw The Atlantic contributor Hampton Stevens narrowly outduel co-finalist (and spoken word bring-it-atist) Iris Appelquist by a score of 3-2 to win him the LDM KC, Ep. 3 crown. 

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LA, Ep. 5

January 26, 2012 — On a downright magical night, Literary Death Match declared LA its home before a jam-packed house at Busby's East, followed by a nonstop series of hilarity, tenderness, fabulism, wordplay and beyond, which finished with Matthew Specktor nipping Ben Loory in a literary spelling bee by a razor-close margin, nailing "Ondaatje" to give him a 17-16 lead, and the LDM LA, Ep. 5 crown. 

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SF, Ep. 42

January 13, 2012 — The first Literary Death Match of 2012 was an instant classic, as our triumphant return to the Elbo Room saw Alia Volz  topple Seth Harwood at Literary Author Jumble by a hugely narrow margin of 51.8 seconds. 

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LDM 2011: Year in Review

A Portland-based journalist asked me to tell her about my experience watching Literary Death Match grow after going from four events in one city (NYC) in 2006, to 68 events over 31 cities in 2011. Here was my answer (that went unpublished — she just used a tiny quote from another question): 

"As far as I can tell, the stages of creation go something like this: 

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London, Ep. 21

December 7, 2011 — A converted brewery tucked behind Spitalfields Market became a Santa’s grotto of literary greatness for the final LDM of the year as Kat Brown defeated Ed Hogan in a tense, sudden-death Bauble-Off! that lasted a nail-gnawing four rounds before Brown triumphed over her adversary to claim the Death Match crown.

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Amsterdam, Ep. 2

December 1, 2011 — With winter's onset trinkling down in rainstorm-form, inside SMART Project Space it was a brilliantly cozy, Versal-presented evening, as gobs of onlookiers witnessed Jane Lewty snare victory from the jaws of victory, out-spelling her formidable counterpart Anna Arov in a Literary Spelling Bee finale that saw Lewty win by a closer-than-it-appears 17-8 margin that won her the Literary Death Match crown. 

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Miami, Ep. 3 (Miami Book Fair)

November 18, 2011 — The conclusion to LDM's epic 20-city tour — at Miami Book Fair no less — couldn't have been grander, with a down-to-the-wire finale that saw comics mastermind Jennifer Hayden outduel Mat Johnson by a single point in a literary spell-off that won Hayden the Literary Death Match Miami crown. 

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